Journey Into the Mist
by Cailean
Summary: Life AFTER Shelters of Stone
1. Default Chapter

Jonayla stepped out into the bright morning sunshine. She greeted her mother Ayla and the man of the hearth Jondalar. She proceeded over to her mother who was offering her a cup of tea. Jonayla loved tea and her mother always had it waiting for her every morning. She gulped it down and was ready for the morning. When her tea and breakfast was gone she went down to the creek to have a bath. The last thing she removed when she got undressed was a very simple leather bag that she wore around her neck. Inside this bag was a small piece or red ochre. Her mother called it an amulet. She didn't exactly understand total meaning behind this amulet, she only knew that it was something that was very important to her mother, a custom from some ancient people who meant a lot to her. Jonayla very much enjoyed bathing, the slippery smooth feel of the soap root in her hands and all over her body, the cool creek water was refreshing and invigorating. After her swim in the creek, she dried herself off and went back to her hearth. She took her time going back to the cave, observing the new plants that were popping up everywhere. She couldn't wait until her mother decided that it was time to refill her otter skin medicine bag. That was one of Jonayla's favorite things to do, she treasured the time alone with her mother in the forest, learning about all the medicinal plants. She had been told that she had inherited her mother's skillful healing hands and quick learning. Compared to the other children her age, Jonayla was far beyond her years in knowledge of healing. Her mother would need extra help this year, with the new baby on the way she wouldn't be able to bend over to pick plants. Jonayla was very excited about the baby, she hoped it was a little sister, but either way she would be extremely happy. As she neared the cave her friend Bria greeted her. Bria was the closest one in the cave to Jonayla's age. They were the best of friends and could be spotted together from dawn until dusk. Unless Jonayla was with her mother in the woods or Bria was called away to do something. Today they were going to practice using their thread-pullers. Thread pullers were something that Jonayla was very proud of because her mother had invented them, ever since then the whole cave gave up using awls to sew. Hand-in- hand they went off to join the other girls in their sewing. Jonayla was working on making a blanket for the new baby.  
  
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Meanwhile, back at the cave, Ayla busied herself cleaning up from breakfast while Jondalar gathered his hunting equipment. The men of the cave were preparing for their first hunt of the season, following the hunt would be a big feast. Ayla decided that the day was a perfect one to take Whinney out for a ride in the meadow so she went off to find her beloved mare. Ayla greeted the mare by calling out her name "Whinney", which actually sounded like a horses whinney. No one else in the cave was able to copy the exact animal sounds that Ayla could imitate. The horse nudged Ayla gently. They had been very close friends ever since Ayla had rescued Whinney as a foal those many years ago when she was alone in the Valley. That was before Jondalar, before her life had become wonderful. Ayla patted Whinney's bulging belly, she too was expecting a baby soon. That had come as a surprise because nobody had known there were other horses near by, but eleven months ago Whinney had disappeared for four days, and when she came back it was discovered she was pregnant. Two months later, Ayla missed her moon time and came to the conclusion that she too was pregnant. She and Jondalar were overjoyed at this news and eagerly awaited the arrival of both babies. After a through inspection of both Whinney and Racer, she hopped on Whinney's bareback and galloped off into the sunshine.  
  
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	2. Feast

Several hours later, when Ayla returned she found the cave practically deserted. She wondered what was going on. Seeing that no one was around, she settled down with a cup of tea to wait for the return of the zelandonii. Ayla didn't have to wait very long, a few minutes later she heard excited voices coming up from the valley. She went down to greet them and was delighted to find they had made the first kill of the season. And what a kill it was! At first she only saw three deer, then four, and wait- five. Five deer, what a feast they would have that night! Ayla was sure that the successfulness of the hunt was because of Jondalar's spear thrower. Ever since the spear thrower had been introduced to the cave the hunts had been very fortunate and they had, had plenty of meat to get them through the winter. Low and behold, Jonadalar was being hailed as the hero of the hunt. He came striding up the path with Jonayla on his shoulders, big grins on the faces of both of them. Ayla was overjoyed at the relationship that existed between her mate and daughter. Other than Ayla, Jondalar didn't love anyone more than he loved Jonayla. Before the party reached the cave, Wolf bounded up and jumped on Ayla in the friendly matter in which he always greeted her. "Hi Wolf" she replied to his playful licks, "I see you have had a successful hunt." Wold replied in a joyful bark. As soon as the others were back, she greeted Jondalar with a kiss (something she had never experienced before he came along) and Ayla set to work preparing for the feast. That night the entire Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii ate until they were stuffed and then they danced and told stories by the firelight until the wee hours of the morning. Ayla looked around her at the light flickering on the faces of her family members. She finally had found her people. The upcoming spring and summer would bring many good fortunes including the arrival of the new baby, and a Summer Meeting of the Zelandonii. There was also talk of a trip, on that she would not be able to go on, but that Jonayla was begging to participate in.  
  
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The next day dragged on slowly, no one was very productive. The entire cave was going about the day in a sloth like manner. They were all pretending to be working hard when in reality nothing much got done. The real excitement came that night. 


End file.
